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A new patent issued June 5 to economics professor Joseph Henry Vogel outlines ways to stop students from sharing books physically or online.

On one hand, academic authors and publishers face hundreds of pirate textbook sites and students who share books. (original story at TorrentFreak). On the other hand, students often pay hundreds of dollars per course per semester for books that are sometimes revised so quickly their used-book value drops to nothing. Hence the trend of some professors to provide online textbooks from open sources.

Not Professor Vogel. His patent puts an online access code in the textbook that must be used or the student loses points. Those buying used books can buy their access code at a discount. Publishers are excited to find a way to maintain their business model.

I'm very often forced to purchase WebAssign keys. Web Assign is a service that allows professors (in my case, in the math/physics departments) to create online quizzes and homeworks that are graded automatically.

Hey, publishers

If they would like the publishing industry to not die, then they should start printing academic books on cheaper paper, paper back copies, and not come out with a new edition every year that makes the previously $100 book be worthless.